Automated pharmaceutical dispensing systems are available which automatically count a predetermined number of pills, tablets, capsules, or similar items. The term pill is used hereinafter to designate any pill, tablet, capsule, or similar solid form of pharmaceutical or similar item. It will be recognized that while a pharmacy has been chosen for purposes of disclosure, the inventive system may be applied to many other fields and the invention is not considered limited to the environment chosen for purposes of disclosure. Such systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,884,806; 5,907,493; and 6,202,923, all commonly assigned to the assignee of the instant application. In these systems, pills are counted from a reservoir into an output buffer upon command. Once the pills have been counted, an operator empties the buffer contents into a vial or similar container.
It is also known in the art to use robotic arms to automate portions of the prescription filling process in an automated pharmacy. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,812,410, for SYSTEM FOR DISPENSING DRUGS, issued Sep. 22, 1998 to Nicholas Lion, et al, and 5,838,575, for SYSTEM FOR DISPENSING DRUGS, issued Nov. 17, 1998 to Nicholas Lion, both teach a system wherein disposable containers of drugs are mounted vertically in a frame above individual counting units (i.e., base port subunits). Vials may be moved directly under the counting units to receive tablets or capsules counted from the disposable container. However, there is no teaching of a robotic arm or other robotic type manipulator. In some embodiments, vials to receive the pills, tablets or capsules are manufactured within or near the dispensing unit.
In contradistinction, the system of the present invention utilizes a robotic arm in combination with a multi-unit, automated pill dispensing unit. Pill counting is performed by individual independently operable pill counting units, each under direct control of an internal microprocessor. This allows pill-counting operations to be performed independently from movements of the robotic arm. While tablets are being counted, the robotic arm may be performing other tasks, such as fetching a labeled vial, moving an unlabeled vial to a labeling station, moving a filled vial from another counting unit to an output station, etc. In addition, no facility for manufacturing vials from plastic sheeting is provided.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,006,946 and 6,036,812 for PILL DISPENSING SYSTEM were both issued to Jeffery P. Williams, et al, on Dec. 28, 1999 and Mar. 14, 2000, respectively. Both of these patents teach using a robotic actuator for removing cassettes from a shelving unit, transferring the cassettes to a counting station, counting a predetermined number of tablets or capsules from the cassette into a vial, and ultimately returning the cassette to its proper place in the shelving unit and moving the filled vial to an output station.
The unit of the present invention, on the other hand, utilizes a robotic arm in combination with a sophisticated automatic pharmaceutical dispensing system wherein tablets or capsules are independently and simultaneously counted in each of the plurality of counting units in the dispensing system. This requires far fewer movements of the robotic arm and thus provides far greater throughput of the system because of the independence of the tablet counting operations from the robotic arm movement. In addition, parallel pill counting operations are possible, further improving system throughput. In the inventive system, no cassettes need be moved from a shelving unit to a counting unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,392 for PILL DISPENSING SYSTEM, issued Jan. 23, 2001 to Jeffery P. Williams, et al, teaches a bottle dispensing system for use in cooperation with the pill dispensing system disclosed in the '812 and '946 WILLIAMS patents described hereinabove.
The system of the present invention has no provision for dispensing bottles.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,967 for INTEGRATED AUTOMATED DRUG DISPENSER METHOD AND APPARATUS, issued Jul. 10, 2001 to Terrance J. Hebron, et al, teaches a system wherein at least one line of machines is provided to fill, label and cap vials of medication for a particular patient. Multiple prescriptions for a patient are grouped and accumulated in unique, patient-specific output bins.
The automated system of the present invention provides no facility for grouping various prescriptions for a particular patient, but rather fills each prescription independently. Only after the prescriptions have been inspected are they sent to a packaging area where multiple prescriptions for a single patient are identified and grouped for pickup by the patient.
None of these patents, either individually or in combination, anticipates or suggests the automated prescription filling system of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a system using a robotic arm in combination with an automatic pharmaceutical dispenser.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a system using a robotic arm in combination with an automatic pharmaceutical dispenser having a plurality of individual, independent, pill-counting units.
It is another object of the invention to provide a system using a robotic arm in combination with an automatic pharmaceutical dispenser wherein each individual pill-counting unit has a dedicated microprocessor.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a system using a robotic arm in combination with an automatic pharmaceutical dispenser wherein tablet or capsule counting is performed independently of and simultaneously with the movement of the robotic arm.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a system using a robotic arm in combination with an automatic pharmaceutical dispenser wherein an individual pill-counting unit may be serviced from behind the automatic pharmaceutical dispenser so that normal operation of the robotic arm with other dispensing modules can continue normally.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a system using a robotic arm in combination with an automatic pharmaceutical dispenser wherein replenishment of individual pill-counting units may be performed from behind the automatic pharmaceutical dispenser so that normal operation of the robotic arm with other dispensing modules can continue normally.